New Year Resolution To Have and To Hold
by Mamajules12
Summary: Jean and Lucien are invited to the Tyneman new Year's Eve party. They ring in 1961 full of excitement and promise for the upcoming year.


"Are you sure we should still go? A lot has happened in the past few weeks since we received the invitation." Lucien is sitting in the parlor wearing the biggest smile that Jean has ever seen, the same smile that has been on his face for the last three days since opening the calendar.

_That silly little calendar, one that the bank gave out for free had been on her desk before her when she hung up the phone. Between Lucien being stabbed a few weeks prior, speaking to Father Emery that morning about leaving the church and the events in the cemetery that afternoon she knows without a doubt what she wants for the year ahead. Without thinking, she starts looking at the numbers in front of her, the numbers leading to a path forward. The divorce will only be finalized in January, that won't do. She rips that month off. February is hot and may come across wrongly being so close to the divorce. She rips off that month. March is a beautiful month. The beginning of autumn. She picks up the red pen, circling the twenty-fifth._

"I know Lucien but when I saw Patrick yesterday he made a point to ask."

"Are sure he wasn't asking in the hopes that we weren't going to show up?"

"That is not at all what he said. I told him we wouldn't be going with everything that has happened and he wouldn't hear of it. Insisting we please come. I know you would rather stay home and have a quiet evening just the two of us but to be honest Lucien I think you need to try your best to stay in the Tyneman's good graces."

"Yes, of course," he lets out a sigh of defeat. "Come here, darling."

Jean saunters over to him reading his devilish smirk. He gently pulls her down onto his lap, her arms drape around his neck, fingers running through the small hairs along the nape. She doesn't give him a chance to speak, capturing his lips with hers.

There is a new freedom in her. In the course of a day the last thin line that kept her tethered to the past broke. It had been slowly fraying for weeks, months, some even would say years but the red ink circling the twenty-fifth severed it; setting her free to live the life she choses. She is choosing to live for the future not in the regrets of the past, a life with Lucien Blake.

When she pulls her lips away from him his eyes remain closed, a dream like state on his face. "Lucien?" She rubs her hand along the bearded lines of his cheek.

"I just can't believe in three months you will be my wife." Eyes still closed he begins to kiss her again with more ernest than is proper for the parlor chair. The tap of Matthew's cane in the hall has Jean leaping out Lucien's lap, leaving him in a most uncomfortable state.

"Matthew you're home for lunch early."

"Am I?" The confusion on his face clear as he notes the time. "Blake, your paper is upside down." Matthew makes his way past his friends shaking his head. "I'm going to go wash up. I'll be back in a few."

"Lucien, what on earth is that, oh, never mind," she waves off the offending smell coming from his experiment. "You need to get ready. I'm heading back upstairs to change."

"Do we have to?"

"Yes, we have to." Jean makes her way to him, her nose wrinkling at the smell emanating from the vial in front of her fiance. "I will not show up at my first Tyneman party in my robe."

She has her white fuzzy robe wrapped around her slight frame. He notes that Jean's hair and makeup are meticulous an enticing scent around her, in contrast to the fumes surrounding him. He has spent the afternoon with his experiments while she has obviously taken great care preparing for the evening.

He pulls her close, "You are beautiful whatever you have on." Jean pulls away before Lucien's lips make contact, ruining her lipstick. Instead her fingers brush his lips, and a look that promises many kisses later.

"I laid out what you should wear and put on the new tie I bought you. We should leave in an hour."

Lucien watches her till she is out of sight. The familiarity in her movements, the intimacy in her actions are not lost on him. This woman that he worships is already more a wife to him in nearly every way than many have in a marriage. _Longest bloody three months of my life._

An hour later he meets her at the door, dressed in his best dark grey suit, wearing the new tie that Jean gave him. The tie has a very familiar shade of green throughout. A shade of green that he is very pleased to see on Jean tonight. It is the same green of the dress that drew his eyes to certain assets that he admires on her. It occurs to him that his clever Jean refashioned the old dress into this new one; shorter hem, more fitted, lower neckline. He is sure the church ladies would say too revealing. To him she is a vision to behold.

Lucien finds his mouth dry from gaping at his gorgeous woman. "You're staring. Do I look alright?"

"You my darling are breathtaking. I will be the envy of all the men having you by my side."

"Well, I don't know about that but I aim only to please you. Now help me with this." She hands Lucien her necklace, turns and lifts her hair. He drapes the gold chain around her. The emerald laying gracefully on her bare skin. He can't help but kiss her neck that is before him, tracing his lips along the line of the chain.

"You please me very much." He can hear the slight hitch in her breathing.

Her words a bit too breathy even for her own ears, she manages to formulate a simple sentence. "We need to leave."

"Of course." He swallows back a smile. Proud that he is able to have such an effect on one Jean Beazley. "Do you want to wear your jacket?"

"No. It's rather warm."

"I'll just grab it for later then. Shall we?"

The party is being held in the gala room at the Colonist. Lucien parks the car as close as he can get but the street is busy with festivities. He notices Jean unconsciously twisting her hands in a nervous manner.

He places a hand over hers, "You look beautiful."

"It's not that Lucien."

"Oh, I'm sure you will no several people and I'll be by your side."

She shakes her head, "That's just it Lucien. I'll know everyone."

"I don't understand."

She lets out a heavy sigh, of course he doesn't understand. There is no black and white in his mind, no haves and have nots, class or race lines in his mind. This is one of the many reasons she loves him so deeply. "Lucien, last year I wouldn't have considered let alone been invited to such a party." He begins to protest, she stops him with a gentle hand to his chest. "It has nothing to do with them liking me or not Lucien. It is just the way things are. A widowed farmer's wife, a housekeeper does not ring in the new year with upper society. Now, here I am, the fiance of one Doctor Lucien Blake but people don't forget."

"Jean, Patrick adores you."

"Yes, Patrick has always been kind to me when our paths cross but not everyone may be in the same mindset. I just don't want you to be bothered by people. They may make remarks. I just need you to know that I understand this and accept it for whatit is."

"Jean, right about now those people are more apt to condemn you for putting up with me than where you came from. Honestly, I don't think I would be invited if it wasn't for you. I am not necessarily a doctor in shiny armour."

She chuckles at his self deprivation, "well, maybe your armour is a bit tarnished but lucky for you I know how to fix that."

"Come on. Let us go eat, drink and dance the night away. And damn the lot of them!"

The Colonist is bustling with activity. Along with the Tyneman's private party the bar is full of men ringing in the new year early. Cec greets them at the base of the stairs that leads to the party. "Sir, Mrs. Beazley. Lovely to see you. Right this way."

"Thank you Cec." Lucien give his faithful friend a heart hand shake.

Cec leads them up the wide staircase to the private gala. Jean pauses on the stairs, looking upward, her brow raises in thought.

Lucien looks down at his fiance, and notices a far away look on her face. "Jean?" She looks up, her smile beaming and takes his outstretched hand.

The room is decorated with balloons and streamers, the drinks already flowing. Cec leads them to their table, the same table where Susan Tyneman is holding court. The pair give each other a knowing looks, while simultaneously saying _Patrick._ There is no better way to show others, and his wife that Lucien and Jean are welcome than to have them sit at the host's table.

The dinner is divine, the wine the finest Jean has ever tasted. The conversation around the table flows with much laughter. Lucien's pride in Jean radiates from him. His Jean, the same woman who worried that a housekeeper wouldn't be accepted, molds easily into the group. Knowing most of the town's people and their lives, she contributes much to the banter around the table. Lucien notes that even Susan seems to warm up to Jean's presence at the table. This may not be the world Jean comes from but she knows how to carry herself amongst them far better than he.

After dessert Lucien loses track of his dear Jean. He feels lost not having her by his side. The band begins to play a slow sultry number that has him yearning to have Jean in his arms on the dance floor. As if she has read his mind, he sees the object of many a man's eye tonight making her way towards him.

"Care to dance, doctor?"

"I thought you would never ask."

Swaying on the dance floor, the lovers, for that is what they must be to the eyes of the spectators, fit beautifully together. A rhythm to their bodies that comes with knowing another so deeply, truly. They are lost in each other, deaf to the world around them.

Jean reluctantly lifts her head from it's place on his shoulder but only to get a better look at his face. "I've secured things with Cec." She can read his lack of understanding, "for the wedding."

"Aaah. You want to get married here?"

"Might as well. You are a member after all."

"I just thought you would want," he trails off not finishing the thought. He knows that deep in her heart she wants to marry him in the church but because of the man he is that won't happen. "Here is perfect. As long as you're happy."

"I am very happy Lucien."

They dance the remaining hours of 1960 away. With strike of midnight very close, Jean leads Lucien out to the balcony away from the crowd. "We will miss the countdown."

"That's alright. I much rather be out here with you." She gives a shiver in the night air.

"Here." He slips off his suit jacket and places it around her shoulders. "Next year at this swarey you will be Mrs. Blake." He wraps himself around her, pulling her closer.

"Mmm, yes in three month time you will be mine."

"To have and to hold," he whispers in her ear, the countdown in the next room seemingly a distant sound.

"Happy New Year Lucien."

"Happy New Year my love," he says before his lips meet her, deepening the kiss as the bells chime. The proper way to ring in the new year.


End file.
